Georgina Dimopoulos secures 2026 DECRA to advance family law research

The ARC 2026 round 1 DECRA grants were awarded to 200 researchers from across the country, selected from a total of 1,500 applications.

Associate Professor Dimopoulos’ successful DECRA application was the only project funded in the Law and Legal Studies category. It centres on children’s participation in court matters as family violence victim-survivors in their own right.

“The phrase ‘in their own right’ is key,” said Professor Dimopoulos. “All the research tells us that children feel as if adults are making decisions for them, not with them, when it comes to family law.

“Many have experienced family violence; we need to ensure the family court environment does not do them further harm.”

According to the latest data from the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, in the 2024-25 financial year, 86% of parenting cases alleged family violence.

“I am looking to create a new practice framework for children’s participation in family law,” said Associate Professor Dimopoulos. “One that is co-designed ethically with children, where they feel safe, one that values their voices and that can be used by all people who work and participate in the family law system – including judges, family court staff, lawyers and mediators.”

The DECRA award follows the launch earlier this year of the Family Law 4 Kids toolkit, a project led by Associate Professor Dimopoulos in collaboration with 54 reasons (which delivers Save the Children’s programs in Australia) and Youth Law Australia, a children's and youth legal service.

The toolkit was designed with children and young people aged 10 – 19 and provides information about navigating the family law system, including who children might speak to, why, and what they can do if they feel they haven’t been heard.

“Family Law 4 Kids responds to the repeated call from children that they want to be included in fundamental decisions about their lives, like who they live with and spend time with, when their parents separate,” said Associate Professor Dimopoulos.

“With the DECRA grant I hope to take this research even further, towards models for systemic change that can positively influence the lives of children affected by family violence.”

The DECRA award is a defining moment in Associate Professor Dimopoulos’ legal and research career. She was admitted as a solicitor in 2010 and has researched in this area for more than fifteen years, but says it was a chance elective unit while she was still at university that sparked a passion for family law.

“I’ve always been interested in how law can help us understand human relationships, which are often fraught and messy. Family law is all that. I have had amazing mentors, from Professor Helen Rhoades (former Australian Law Reform Commissioner) and Professor John Tobin as PhD supervisors and now the support from my Faculty and colleagues here at Southern Cross University.

“The DECRA grant was unexpected, as I know how competitive they are. But it’s given me that extra confidence in the value of this work, and the hope I can make a difference for the thousands of children whose lives are impacted by decisions of the family law courts every year.”